Flesh Gordon (Hen's Tooth Video) Review

Distributor: Hen's Tooth Video Edition Details: Collector's Edition DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Classic, Feature Film, Comedy, Softcore Run Time: 90 minutes Rated: not Release Year: 1974 Director: Michael Benveniste, Howard Ziehm Written by: Michael Benveniste Cast: Jason Williams, Suzanne Fields, Joseph Hodgins, William Dennis Hunt (as William Hunt), Candy Samples (as Candy Samples and Mary Gavin), Mycle Brandy, Steve Grumette (as Steve Grummette), Nora Wieternik, Lance Larsen, Judy Ziehm, Leonard Goodman, Donald Lee Harris (as Don Harris), Howard Alexander, Jack Rowe, Alan Sinclair, Ron Darby (as Mark Fore), Annette Michael (as Annette Anderson), Maria Arnold (as Maria Aronoff), Shannon West, Ric Lutze (as Rick Lutze), Tricia Opal (as Patricia Burns), Rene Bond (as Sally Alt), Nancy Martin (as Nancy Ayres), Howard Ziehm (as Linus Gator), Dalana Bissonette (as Kathy Foster), Jill Sweete (as Susan Moore), Terri Johnson, Pat Hudson, Linda Marie (as Linda Sheppard), Duane Paulsen, Dee Dee Dailes, John Hoyt, Terran Benveniste, Sandi Carey, Damon Charles, Con Covert, Tony Dow, Norman Fields, Butch Griswald, Billy Lane, William Margold, Neil Perlman, George Peters, John Vincent, Jason Yukon, Reb Sawitz Voices: Robert V. Greene, Craig T. Nelson Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.85:1 (non-anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Flesh Gordon was the half a million-dollar, Oscar-nominated, sci-fi/comedy hardcore adult film epic that was never to be. Technically, all these events came to be, in a way.

Flesh Gordon started as a twenty-five thousand dollar hardcore film, that, over time, managed to have a final cost of around a half a million dollars. Flesh Gordon was initially conceived as a hardcore film, but all the hardcore footage was seized in a raid. The police kept all 400 feet of the hardcore footage, and the film was ultimately released as an R-rated film.

Due to a shortage of visual effect films, Flesh Gordon was submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration. Unconfirmed rumors are that the film was going to be nominated for the potential for an Oscar that year. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ended up dropping the special effects category that year.

In this parody of Flash Gordon, football player Flesh Gordon (Jason Williams), his girlfriend Dale Ardor (Suzanne Fields), and Dr. Flexi Jerkoff (Joseph Hudgins) head to the planet Porno to stop the evil Emperor Wang (William Dennis Hunt) from destroying Earth, as we know it, with his sex ray.

Flesh Gordon is an entertaining campy film that never takes itself too seriously. It combines cheesy sexual jokes, with stop motion animation, some nicely done sets, good miniature work, and over the top acting to create a final product that fans of 70s feature adult work will enjoy, even though most of the hardcore sequences are no longer in existence. There are some sequences, like the orgy, where some hardcore footage can be seen in the background, but it is only glances.

This is the kind of parody that the adult industry of today should be looking at when they create theirs. Yes, some scenes are complete rip-offs of Flash Gordon; however, the plot is not just a copy of the mainstream film. It goes in its own direction to create a parody of the property, without just trying to mimic the original with sex scenes forced in.

Hen's Tooth Video has done a decent job with this release of Flesh Gordon but falls short of a great release with some poor aspects. Flesh Gordon is presented in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, which is not anamorphic for some strange reason. Flesh Gordon was shot on 16mm film, and this release has been remastered from the 35mm negative. Vinegar Syndrome's Joe Rubin explained, based on his talks with Howard Ziehm, on how Flesh Gordon was made. The film was shot on 16mm E.C.N. film. The opticals and mats were done on a 35mm blow-up resulting in a blow-up 35mm CRI negative. The film was shown in theaters in 35mm.

The picture presentation for Flesh Gordon is decent. The picture is very grainy in some portions, and, in some scenes, the color levels are very muted. There are also places that the picture lightens. Overall though, the image isn't bad and looks better than it has in previous home video releases. The version contained here is the extended version of the film, not the original theatrical R-rated version. So there is no misunderstanding, this does not make this the hardcore version of the film. The hardcore footage for the movie was confiscated and no longer is available nor probably in existence. Some brief moments within the existing footage border on hardcore action within the orgy, but this is not the original hardcore version, which has never been seen.

The film is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Monaural track. The track sounds good and works for the film.

Hen's Tooth Video has included a few extras on this release. There is a feature-length commentary track by co-director Howard Ziehm, which goes into all the problems that the production of the movie experienced during production. The theatrical trailer is included on the disc along with a photo gallery.

This edition of Flesh Gordon isn't perfect and some simple errors, like the non-anamorphic widescreen presentation for the film and the lack of extras. However, to date, this is the best the film has ever looked on home video, and this may be the best version ever to come out.

Flesh Gordon is a softcore parody of Flash Gordon, which combines the right level of camp, cheesy special effects, and ambition behind it to be a fun film, even though the originally conceived hardcore version was never to be. Fans of hardcore films from the 70s should find a lot of fun here, while also trying to find the blue screen actors and actresses from the era in the film hiding in the remaining close to hardcore footage. The DVD release from Hen's Tooth Video is better than previous home video releases but falls short of being a definitive release of the film.

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